Folding square.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH I-I. CAREY, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM T. GREGG, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING SQUARE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 17, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH citizen of the United States of siding at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Folding Square, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in steel squares used by carpenters, masons, and other artisans in the building and anal ogous trades for layin out work, and resides in a certain peculiar joint between the two blades of the square, by means of which said blades can be folded but cannot be detached so as to separate completely one from the other, as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide a square, of the class designated above, with means whereby the blades of the square can be held securely, rigidly and accurately in the customary right-angular relation to each other, and can be easily and quickly released and arranged in parallel relation to each other, but without complete detachment or separation which would often lead to the loss or misplacing of a blade and so seriously interfere with the usefulness and practicability of a jointed square. A square of this kind is usually large and on this account and owing to its shape is an awkward tool to pack with other tools for carrying from place to place, but my square when folded can be stored away without difiiculty in a chest, tool-box or bundle, wherein it occupies but little space and space that is not needed for anything else.

In addition to the above, other objects and advantages will appear inthe course of the following description.

I attain these objects and secure these advantages by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a square which embodies my invent-ion in a practical form, the blades being normally disposed and having their free terminals broken off Fig. 2, an enlarged vertical section taken on lines 22, looking toward the left, in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged cross-section taken on lines 3-3, looking down, in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the jointed terminal portions of said square, showing the same folded; Fig. 5, an inside elevation of the cover-plate; Fig. 6, an elevation of the cover-plate side of the upper portion of the H. CAREY, a

America, re-

wide blade of said square, the cover-plate having been removed, and, Fig. 7, a side elevation of the head-provided terminal portion of the narrow blade of said square.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Like all squares of the type under consideration my square comprises a wide branch or blade 1 and a narrow branch or blade 4:, but instead of joining these blades permanently and rigidly at their contiguous ends and so that they must always be at right-angles to each other, as is customary, I provide an articulation at the place of union, and this I will now proceed to describe with the aid of the drawings.

The wide blade 1, at one terminal, is cut or planed down on one side to produce two levels 5 and 6, the portion of said blade thus cut or planed being the thinnest at 6. The out part 5 forms a rib 7 along the back or outer edge of the cut portion of the blade 1, which rib falls short of the adjacent end of said blade, as best shown at 8, in Fig. 6, and said part is serrated crosswise of the blade at 9. Opposite or below the serrated edge 9 the level 5 extends downward in the form of a slot 10. A cover-plate 11, for the cut-away portion 6 of the blade 1, is securely fastened to the cut-away portion 5 by means of rivets 12 which pass through openings 13 in said plate and blade. Thus it will be seen that a narrow slot is produced in the blade 1, which opens through the inner and top edges thereof, having the rib 7 for the back and the serrated edge 9 for the bottom. Two openings 14 are made in the blade 1, and the same number in the cover-plate 11, these openings all being adjacent to the inner edges of these-members, and those in each pair alining with those in the other pair. There is a T-slot 15 in the cover-plate 11, the vertical part of which alines with the slot 10.

A resilient T-shaped latch 16 fits into the slots 10 and 15 and has its tail-piece riveted at 17 to the blade 1. On the inside of the cross-piece of the latch 16, adjacent to the ends of such cross-piece, are two lugs 18 which normally extend into the slot or space between the cut-away portion 6 of the blade 1 and the cover-plate 11, above the serrated edge 9.

The narrow blade 4 is provided at its lefthand end with a head 19 which is thinner than the blade proper, and is adapted to be received in the slot in the blade 1 between the thinnest part of said blade and the coverplate 11. The head 19 has a projection 20 to fit into the space at 8, and a serrated edge 21 to interlock with the serrated .edge 9, whenthe two blades are arrangedat rightangles to each other. The serrated edge 21 extends below or beyond the adjacent edge of the blade proper of which the head 19 forms a part, said head being wider than said blade proper, Formed in the head 19 are two alining slots 22 which are adjacent to and parallel with the serrated edge 21, and two alining slots 23 which are at rightangles to said slots 22 and are adjacent to the junction between said head and the main portion of the blade 4. The inner slots 22 and 23 open into each other and thus together form aright-angle, while the outer slots 22 and 23 have their adjacent ends connected by a slot 24 in the form of an arc of a circle struck from the point of intersection of the longitudinal central lines of said firstmentioned slots. Two rivets 25 in the openings 14 permanently attach the head 19 to the slotted portion of the blade 1 (the cover- 'pla-te 11 really constituting a part of said blade), the'intermediate parts of said rivets being received in the aforesaid slots in the manner described below.

The construction, arrangement and proportion of the parts are such that the rivets 25 are in the slots 23. when the blade 4 is in operative position, as in Fig. 1,. and in the slots 22 when said blade is completely folded, as in Fig. 4, while during the transmission from either of these positions to the other the upper rivet 25 traverses the slots 24 while the lower rivet 25 serves as a pivot in the angle formed by the inner connecting slots 22 and 23. The slots 22 are also in position'to receive the lugs 18 when the blade 4 is operatively disposed.

Both sides of this square are practically level, there being no sharp corners or other projecting parts on either exposed surface or face to catch on, scratch, or otherwise injure the work or interferewith the proper use of said: square, which is a valuable feature of my invention. This being'so, it-follows that the exposed surface of the latch 16 must be, flush with the surrounding surfaces of the blade 1 and the cover-plate 11, hence the latter is beveled at 26 adjacent to the upper edge of said. latch. to afford access to the latter for the thumb or finger when it is necessary to spring said latch outward.

To fold the square, first spring-the latch 16 outward until the lugs 18 are clear of'the slots 22, then raise the blade 4 until the bottoms in place of thetops of the slots 23 contact with the rivets 25 and swing said blade on the lower rivet 25, the upper rivet 25 now passing into and through the slot 24,

into parallel relation and inner-edge contact with the blade 1, and finally move said blade 4 downward until the upper ends of the now vertical slots 22 into which said rivets have passed are received on the latter. The latch 16 can be released, of course, as soon as the slots 22 are moved out of registry therewith. When the latch 16 is free and the blade 4 is in the position last above mentioned, the right-hand lug 18 enters what may be termed an extension 27 of the adjacent slot 23 and so prevents the blade 4 from being raised. The blade 4 is now held securely with its inner edge against the inner edge of the blade 1 by means of the rivets 25 in the slots 22 and with the aid of the right-hand lug 18 in the extension 27.

To extend the blade 4, first force the latch 16 outward to withdraw the right-hand lug 18 from the extension 27, then raise said blade until the left-hand upper end of the slot 24 is in line with the upper rivet 25 and the left-hand end of the slot 23 below is in line with the lower rivet 25, next swing said blade upward on said lower rivet as a pivot or fulcrum, meanwhile keeping the lugs 18 out of the way, until it is at right-angles to the blade 1, and lastly press said blade 4 downward and release said latch. The head 19 with its projection 20 is now tight against the rib 7, the serrated edges 21 and 9 are in interlocking engagement, the rivets 25 are in the upper ends of the slots 23, and the latch lugs 18 are in the slots 22, hence movement in any direction on the part of the blade 4 independently of the blade 1 is impossible.

This square may be changed or modified more or less without departing from the nature of my invention, as will be plain to one skilled in the art in which it belongs.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a tool of the class described, with a blade having a slot in one terminal, opening through one end and one longitudinal edge and provided with two rivets adjacent to the longitudinal edge through which said slot opens and passing transversely through said slot, of a second blade provided with a head adapted to fit the slot in said first-mentioned blade, said head having slots therein for said rivets which pass through the slots in said head, and means to lock said blades either in rightangular relation to each other or in parallel relation to each other.

2. The combination, in a tool of the class described, with a blade having a slot in one terminal and provided with rivets, and a latch attached to the outside of said blade and provided with lugs which extend into said slot, of a second blade provided with a head adapted to fit said slot and having slots to receive said rivets and lugs.

3. The combination, in a tool of the class described, with a blade having a slot in one terminal and provided with rivets, and a lug-provided latch attached to one side of said blade, of a second blade provided with a head adapted to fit said slot, said head having slots therein to receive and accommodate said rivets in whatever position said second blade may be placed, and also to receive the latch lugs when said blades are arranged in the form of a right-angle.

4. The combination, in a tool of the class described, with a blade cut away at one terminal to form a rib and a serrated part, a cover-plate secured to said blade over such cut-away portion, rivets in said blade and cover-plate and extending across the space between them, and a latch fastened to said blade and provided with lugs which extend into said space, of a second blade provided with a head adapted to fit said space and engage with saidrib and serrated part when said second blade is arranged at right-angles to said firstmentioned blade, said head having slots therein to receive and accommodate said rivets in whatever position said second blade may be placed, and also to receive said lugs when said blades are arranged at rightangles to each other.

5. The combination, in a tool of the class described, with a blade cut away at one terminal to form a rib and a serrated part, a cover-plate secured to said blade over such cut-away portion, rivets in said blade and cover-plate extending across the space between them, and a latch fastened to said blade and provided with lugs which extend into said space, of a second blade provided with a head adapted to fit said space and engage with said rib and serrated part when said second blade is arranged at right-angles to said first-mentioned blade, said head having slots therein to receive and accommodate said rivets in whatever position said second blade may be placed, and also to receive said lugs when said blades are arranged at rightangles to each other, and said head having an extension from one of such slots to receive one of said lugs, when said blades are arranged in parallel relation to each other.

6. The combination, in a tool of the class described, with a blade having a slot in one terminal and provided with rivets which extend across said slot, of a second blade provided with a head adapted to fit said slot, said head having connecting slots, arranged at a right-angle to receive and fulcrum on one of said rivets, and having other slots arranged at a right-angle and connected by an arcuate slot having the first mentioned rightangle for a center to receive and accommodate the other of said rivets in whatever position said second blade may be made to assume.

JOSEPH H. CAREY. Witnesses:

A. C. FAIRBANKS, F. A. CUTTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

